Giving a city hallan inspiring identity

Chandler City Hall,Chandler, Arizona, USA

Find out how the Chandler City Hall is amplifying local pride with light

When I finished aiming the lights,

the assistant city manager was clapping.”

- Jeff Gerwing, Principal Designer, SmithGroup

Customer challenge

The City of Chandler, Arizona, was on a mission to centralize its government departments. In an attempt to unite employees and boost local pride, the decision was made to construct a new city hall. However, to give the building its own identity, some striking exterior lighting was needed.

The right lighting

The new city hall was set to make a big difference to the citizens of Chandler. Firstly, it would bring government employees from numerous departments together in a single building block. Secondly, it would add fresh character to the city center through cutting-edge architecture. To create an iconic centerpiece for the building, architectural firm SmithGroup devised a unique aesthetic design for the Council Chambers.

Getting to work, SmithGroup fitted the fully enclosed 30 ft (9.1 m) tall chamber with translucent glass panels. The panels were then backlit with 28 eW Blast Powercore LED wash lights from Philips ColorKinetics. Next, 100 eW Graze Powercore LED grazing fixtures were used to provide additional backlighting with an even distribution of light. The result was an unusual and stunning light effect that adds a feeling of modernity to the surrounding area.

As part of the project, the city commissioned Ned Kahn to create an original piece of artwork. The result was a moving metal façade that glimmers in the daytime as the wind blows. To complement the construction, SmithGroup’s Jeff Gerwing designed a lighting system that would create a similar glimmering effect at night. The system was created using eColor Blast Powercore, which produces the correct colors and projects light over 50 ft (15.2m) without losing intensity. With the bright amber and blue lights, which represent the Arizona desert, the building radiates magnificently from the city’s skyline.